Catholic News

• Thousands of Armenian Christians flee homes: 'mass exodus has begun,' expert says (CNA)
  Armenian Christians are fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenia following a military offensive by Azerbaijan, a predominantly Muslim nation.
• Terrorists kill 11 Christians in Mozambique (Aid to the Church in Need)
  A brutal Islamist insurgency in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province began in 2017. After Islamist terrorists entered the village of Naquitengue on September 15, they separated the Muslims from the Christians and opened fire on the Christians.
• Pope's new environmental document to be called Laudate Deum (Vatican News (Spanish))
  During a meeting with rectors of Latin American universities, Pope Francis announced that the title of his forthcoming apostolic exhortation on the environment will be Laudate Deum [Praise God]. Laudate Deum, an update of the Pontiff’s 2015 encyclical Laudato si’, will be released on October 4.
• Register profiles 23 'movers and shakers' at October Synod (National Catholic Register)
  The National Catholic Register has published brief profiles of 23 “movers and shakers” at the Synod on synodality, from Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, SJ (who said that Catholic teaching on homosexuality is “false”) to lesser-known figures such as Sister Josée Ngalula, a theologian at the Catholic University of the Congo.
• German bishops in tug of war over blessing same-sex unions (CNA)
  In the weeks ahead of the fall meeting of the German Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne has faced mounting criticism for declining to bless homosexual unions.
• Leading Canadian prelate discusses indigenous peoples, Synod (CCCB)
  Bishop Raymond Poisson of Saint-Jérôme and Mont-Laurier (Québec), president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, addressed his brother bishops on September 25 at the conference’s fall meeting. “In taking stock of the past and looking toward the future, it is easy to become overwhelmed by the magnitude of the expectations tied to reconciliation” with indigenous peoples, said Bishop Poisson. “On such occasions, the one word that keeps coming my mind (and which is a touchstone of the Church for Pope Francis), is simply ‘accompaniment.’” Bishop Poisson also discussed the upcoming Synod on synodality.
• Cardinal Dolan on Biden's NYC migrant response: 'He doesn't take my calls' (New York Post)
  Cardinal Timothy Dolan called for greater federal and state aid to assist New York City with the surge of incoming migrants. President Biden “doesn’t take my calls or answer my letters,” said Cardinal Dolan. “New York just can’t handle them all, we know that. It’s very unfair.” “Our sacred responsibility is to help them [immigrants],” he added. “We hate to see these people suffer.” At the same time, “the Church has always been very supportive of the right of a nation to have borders and border security . . . we don’t just want borders where anybody can come in.”
• USCCB action alert: 'Tell Congress to include increased funding for WIC in a short-term funding bill!' (USCCB)
  “As the Senate puts together a short-term funding measure known as a ‘continuing resolution,’ we must remind them to include adequate funding for the WIC program to protect women, infants, and young children,” the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops stated in an action alert on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). “Without additional funding in the continuing resolution, some states will not have enough funds to continue current operations and may have to resort to waiting lists for the first time in decades,” the alert continued. “It is estimated that 600,000 mothers and children could be turned away when they seek aid.”
• Philadelphia archbishop commissions 10 new Missionaries of Mercy (Catholic Philly)
  During and after the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy (2015-16), the Holy See has granted Missionaries of Mercy the faculties to absolve sins whose absolution is reserved to the Apostolic See (Canons 1370, 1379, 1382, 1384, 1386, 1387). The commissioning of ten new Missionaries of Mercy in a single diocese seven years after the jubilee’s conclusion is unusual. Of the sins whose absolution is reserved to the Apostolic See, the one most commonly committed by the laity is the desecration of the Blessed Sacrament. The decision to commission ten new Missionaries of Mercy may reflect a pastoral desire to make it relatively easy for penitents to be absolved of that heinous sin.
• Some Catholic schools distance themselves from Diocese of Cleveland's sexuality policy (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
  Administrators at some Cleveland Catholic schools operated by religious orders are distancing themselves from the Diocese of Cleveland’s policy on sexuality, gender, and identity, which seeks to apply Catholic teaching in diocesan school settings. “We act in solidarity with all those who are marginalized,” according to a statement from St. Joseph’s Academy, which is run by the Congregation of Saint Joseph. “We are committed to doing the work needed to be allies and to help LGBTQ+ individuals find welcome in our Church, communities and in our world.”
• President Biden issues Yom Kippur message (White House)
  “The blessing of Yom Kippur is that it is not just a day of reflection, repentance, and reverence – but a day of transformation, forgiveness, and hope. God invites us to write a new chapter in the story of our lives, and in the life of our nation,” President Joe Biden said in a message for the Yom Kippur. “As the High Holidays conclude, let us all summon the courage to make the changes required to bridge the gap between the world we see and the world we seek,” he added.
• Pope renews call for 'right not to emigrate' (Vatican Press Office)
  On September 24, the 109th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Pope Francis reiterated that “there ought to exist the right to not emigrate.” “Today is World Day of Migrants and Refugees, on the theme ‘Free to choose whether to migrate or to stay,’ to recall that to migrate should be a free choice, and never the only one possible,” Pope Francis said following his Angelus address. “Indeed, the right to migrate has now become an obligation for many, whereas there ought to exist the right to not emigrate, to remain in one’s own country.” “It is necessary for every man and woman to be guaranteed the right to live a dignified life in the society in which they find themselves,” he added. “Unfortunately, poverty, wars and the climate crisis force so many people to flee. Therefore, we are all required to create communities that are ready and open to welcome, promote, accompany and integrate those who knock on our doors.”
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